COMMENTARYWomen's hockey finalists too good for own good

Published 6:30 am, Thursday, February 25, 2010

Team USA's women's hockey talent mirrors that of Canada and dwarfs that of everyone else.

Team USA's women's hockey talent mirrors that of Canada and dwarfs that of everyone else.

Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Chronicle Olympic Bureau

Solomon: Women's hockey finalists so good, it's bad

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Canada versus the United States for the gold medal.

Big sister versus, well, big sister. Finally, a fair fight.

The embarrassingly lopsided Olympic women’s hockey tournament gets interesting today when the two best teams in the world face off.

Before this matchup, it has been a women-among-girls affair, with Canada and the U.S. abusing opponents to the tune of a combined margin of victory of 86-4.

Because of the North American dominance, women’s hockey might not be long for the Olympics, and that’s a shame. We’re talking about the premier Winter Olympics team sport.

"That would be a shame," said Jim Craig, legendary goaltender of the 1980 U.S. men’s squad. "Women deserve the chance to play this great game. And they show such dedication. There is no NHL for them; they are truly playing for the love of the sport. I love it."

The problem is there are only two good teams. After today’s contest, the U.S. and Canada will have won all four gold medals in the sport. And the two have met in all 12 finals since the International Ice Hockey Federation sanctioned its first women’s world championship in 1990.

Canada rolled through group play with victories of 18-0 over Slovakia, 13-1 over Sweden and 10-1 over Switzerland. The U.S. cruised through its group play beating Russia 13-0, China 12-1 and Finland 6-0, in a game the Americans described as "a test."

And the games weren’t even that close. Aside from the U.S., Sweden is the only team that has scored more goals than Canada’s Meghan Agosta (9).

Canada had 11 players score goals in its victory over Slovakia, and the U.S. had 10 different players frond the back of the net against Russia.

Charline Labonte, Canada’s goaltender, says this year’s squad is the best women’s hockey team of all time.

"We wish that the other teams can compete with us," Labonte said.

We’ll see just how good they are against the U.S. Neither team was even pushed in getting to the finals. Canada dominated Finland 5-0, while the Americans pounded Sweden 9-1 to advance to the gold- medal game.

"It’s a concern that the U.S. and Canadian programs have been increasing and developing faster than the rest of the world," former Team Canada coach Daniele Sauvageau said in a news conference on Wednesday. "When you have a little money, it will go to men’s hockey. That is the reality.

"How are we going to develop this sport?"

Other countries had better hurry and get into the game, or there might not be an Olympic game to get into.

A two-team affair

Women’s hockey has no more competitive depth now than when it debuted in the Olympics in 1998. Canada’s lone losses in the Olympics were to the U.S. (twice in ’98). The U.S. has lost to Canada once (2002) and was upset by Sweden in Turin.

Softball lasted only four Olympics before being booted out of the 2016 London Games due mostly to the lack of competition for the United States, which had won 22 straight Olympic games and three gold medals before being shocked by Japan in Beijing in 2008.

It was too late to save the sport, which was unfortunate and disappointing for such a huge participation sport in the U.S.

The same fate could await women’s hockey, though the International Olympic Committee seems reluctant to cut a sport that has the interest of so many countries. Not enough of those countries have strong female participation.

It is amazing that China has fewer than 200 women registered to play hockey in the entire country — compared to around 90,000 in Canada and 60,000 in the U.S. — yet it was one of the eight teams to qualify for these Games.

Slovakian forward Petra Pravlikova said the situation is similar in her country.

"We have maybe 250 girls playing hockey in Slovakia," she said. "I hope girls will start with hockey; it’s a beautiful game."

Slovakia was the worst team in the tournament, finishing with a minus-25 goal differential.

Imagine some of what might happen if the field were expanded. Slovakia qualified for the tournament with a run that included an 82-0 romp over Bulgaria.

Eighty-two to nothing. No, that’s not a printing error.

There simply aren’t enough quality teams to fill out even an eight-team Olympic tournament, though officials have said women’s hockey likely will be on the 2014 program in Sochi, Russia.

Won’t wait forever

"We just want to grow the game, and the Olympics help with that," President and CEO of Hockey Canada Bob Nicholson said. "Hopefully Russia and Slovakia keep coming on."

The rest of the world’s teams are so far behind, they need Canada and the U.S. to come back to them. That isn’t happening.

How long will the IOC wait?

"I remember in the 1930s, Switzerland was beaten by Canada 20-0. And in Torino, Switzerland beat Canada 2-0," said Rene Fasel, president of the International Ice Hockey Federation. "It took nearly 70 years to come on the same level, and the women are going fast now."